I have been absent from the fishing scene since December 5th. My boat's motor started to signal an overheating issue. I quickly replaced the thermostats on both port and starboard sides. Ran the boat only to get the same alarm. Move on to the water impeller. During my inspection of the lower unit and connecting parts I found some more serious issues. I found several cracks in the exhaust housing and the tuner had also seperated from the lower bracket. Needless to say some long overdue tender love and care needed for the motor. I have replaced all gaskets, housing, plugs, filter, gear lube, etc...Motor is ready to roll.

Itching to get on the water today. Beautiful day! I got snagged...My wife's dad stopped in for a visit and delayed my departure. After his visit my wife dragged me grocery shopping to the dreaded Wal-mart. Could the lines be any longer?! Finally, 4pm home at last. Grabbing gear and heading out the door. Awwwh!!! It feels good to be back on the water. I quickly looked for live bait, but no such luck. I pulled out the artificials and went to work. Picked off a few red drum then a trout. Moved further back into the shallows and found a large school of small reds. Picked off a couple more trout. I did not hang Mr. Big today, but had a blast catching 15 or more reds and 3 trout. I love it! See ya on the water!

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Everyone fished the Trout Tournament with live shrimp. Brandon and Clay caught and released about 20 red drum. Capt. Jeff Williamson caught the second place trout and a boat load of black drum. The winners, Robbie Hughes and Brian Richard caught over a dozen trout, including the winning trout, fishing right beside everyone else. The difference? They were using Salt Water Assassin Sea Shad with a 1/4 oz jig head.
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Capt. Rickey Beck

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Capt. Chris Burrows (left) and Capt. Jeff Beck on the ICW during Capt. RIckey's Spec Tacular Trout Tournament.Join us at 3pm at the OIFC for the weigh ins and then at Clay Morphes' house for the awards dinner
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Capt. Rickey Beck

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It appears that Mother Nature is going to let us fish tomorrow. Here's the scoop. A Captains gathering will be at the OIFC at 7:30pm tonight. You don't have to be there but your $50 in cash needs to be there. The $50 is per boat or per angler if you are fishing from a dock or bank. Lines in anytime you feel like it tomorrow. You may use live or artificial bait, but it has to be hook and line fishing.. NO NETS!!! You may stop and eat lunch or go ashore. Just make weigh in between 3 and 4PM at the OIFC.

Clay Morphes and his Mom and Dad will be putting on quite a spread at their house on the Shallotte River after the tournament. I'd don't have the directions but will post them shortly.

I'm not sure how many boats we have yet, but the number is growing. This is a laid back FUN tournament. Go out, catch the winning fish, but most of all have fun.

There is no need to call the OIFC for more rules/instruction. These are all the rules there are.

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The Captains Meeting will be at the OIFC at 7:30pm Saturday night. Fishing is Sunday. Start when and where you like. Fish from the bank or the shore. Entry fee is $50 per boat or per person if you're fishing from the bank. Weigh in is at the OIFC from 3 to 4pm. Awards dinner will be at Dr. Morphes house Sunday night. All the details and questions will be answered Saturday night.

REMINDER...If you are entered in the OIFC Rodeo be sure to weigh in your trout or ANY OTHER species listed in the Rodeo. If your not in the Rodeo now would be a good time to enter.

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We made it back. Amy and I joined Freeman Boat Works owner Billy Freeman, boat designer Jessie Rhodes, and friends Bryan Taylor and Shannon Elias for an offshore trip aboard a Freeman 33. We departed Charleston Harbor at 7am and ran 75 miles to the Georgetown Hole area-the ocean was a nice 1-2 feet. We were hoping to see Blackfin Tuna on top, but the surface action was dead. Lucky for us we were armed with plenty of vertical jigs. With 6 head and an 18 Grouper limit, we had a box of 18 Scamp Grouper from 21-30 inches in the box by 1pm- all caught in 180-270 feet. Coming home the wind kicked up and allowed the hull to do its magic- we cruised a comfortable 40mph at 1.3mpg. My analysis of the boat is it is a high performance cat boat. It is fast, smooth and efficient. The boat has tons of deck space and fishes great.
It was a pleasure getting to know Billy Freeman and learn more about his Freeman 33.
My New Years resolution: fish more with other people as their guest- to learn new things, meet new people and help if I can.
Happy New Year
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Capt. Amy McMullan

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Amy and I are joining Billy Freeman and friends aboard Billy's new 33 Freeman cat boat (he is the builder). We are leaving from Charleston- not sure what fishing plan is, but we are up for a new adventure- stay tuned
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Capt. Brant McMullan

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OIFC Pro Staff angler Brandon Sauls with, and I quote "a little afternoon get down with Mark Stacy! We had 20+ fish and saw 50 more!!" They were fishing on Brandon's new skinny water boat, a Ranger Banchee names the "Cream Puff".
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Capt. Rickey Beck